“Video games,” at least among non-gamers, are very underrated. When many people think of “video games” or “computer games,” they probably envision either 1980s-style titles such as Pac-Man — or worse, violent, mindless games such as Doom.
Games, however, have the potential to not only be very worthwhile pastimes — but to inform and educate, as well. Occasionally, a particularly well-conceived game can even let players see the world in a new way, and make extraordinary concepts accessible.
“A Slower Speed Of Light,” by the MIT Game Lab, definitely falls into this last category. By calculating the visual implications of motion in a world where the speed of light is significantly slower than the usual 300,000 km/sec, players can see for themselves — interactively and in lurid color — the visual effects of near-light-speed motion.
Carl Sagan, of course, famously introduced relativistic motion to viewers of Cosmos back in the 1980s, along with a good explanation of why these effects occur. With modern computer technology, though — notably high-performance graphics cards — computers can bring such worlds to life and make them interactive.
The game takes only a few minutes to complete, but is an enlightening experience (pardon the pun). It’s a free download, and available for Windows, Linux, and Macintosh computers. Check it out!
